Terra Extraneus

I had this thought this morning: “Effective marketing is not so much about the big splash as it is about countless continual small ripples.” Knowing that there are no new thoughts, I Googled “marketing + big splash + ripples” to see what others have said.

• First, I came across Jeffrey J. Fox’s book, How to Become a Marketing Superstar (2003). Fox is an award-winning marketing consultant and best-selling business writer, who also wrote, How to Be a Rainmaker (2000). In Marketing Superstar, Fox has a chapter titled: “Always make a big splash, instead of a lot of ripples.” Guess we know where he stands.

• Second, I came across an online article, “How We Must Learn To Face the Consumer Again,” by Jarvis Coffin. Coffin is CEO of the web consulting firm Burst! Media, and previously was an ad director for the LA Times and USA Today. Coffin contrasts the approaches of Google and Yahoo in capturing the Internet advertising market. He writes:

Therein lies the online problem for an advertising and media culture reared on big fish and small ponds: it’s not about splash, it’s about ripple effect.

I’d have to do quite a bit more reading to know exactly what either Fox or Coffin have in mind by their use of the splash/ripple metaphor. They’re both gurus, and they may both be right. But when it comes to law firm marketing, I’m much more inclined to think in terms of making a lot of small ripples than chasing after that one elusive big splash.

With billions of pages of content on the Internet, as well as dozens of other forms of media inundating us, making a “big splash” is a very hard thing to do. Pouring all of one’s law marketing efforts into trying to make the next big wave is likely to be ineffective and frustrating. But each day in countless ways, a professional is able to make small ripples. New contacts made, old contacts renewed, a new product or service offered, new twists on old products and services, etc. There’s always another small way to get oneself “out there.”

With each new idea, one may immediately think, “Why bother? This won’t make a big splash.” Probably true. But enough small ripples can get the job done. No telling which new acquaintance, which single-column inside-page news article, which new blog content posted, which business card handed out, will result in new business. And for lawyers, the truth is that when the next “big case” does come through the door, it is just as likely to have been landed by one of those countless small ripples than by one big splash.

(Hat tip to UK blogger Anja Merret, who writes, “Chatting To My Generation,” for pointing me to the Coffin article).